Join us for a special event with Prof. Bernd Wittenbrink in Tokyo.
Event Details
Preferences: What Drives our Decisions
Every day, we make countless decisions based on what we like or dislike—our preferences. While we often believe we consider our preferences consciously—carefully weighing our options or making quick judgments—behavioral science shows that our preferences profoundly affect us in ways we're not aware of.
Join Chicago Booth's Bernd Wittenbrink and learn how to harness behavioral science insights to improve decision-making in your life and your organization.
Speaker Profiles
Bernd Wittenbrink (Speaker)
The Robert S. Hamada Professor of Behavioral Science, Chicago Booth
Bernd Wittenbrink is interested in the psychology of person perception and social judgment, specifically the influence that stereotypes and group attitudes may have on people's decisions and behaviors. His research has been published in the premier journals of Social Psychology, such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and Social Cognition. His book on recent developments in attitude measurement, Implicit Measures of Attitudes, coauthored with N. Schwarz, is published by Guilford Press.
Wittenbrink's research also has been featured by The New York Times, NBC, and National Public Radio, among others, and has received funding though the Russell Sage Foundation.
Wittenbrink has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and member of several professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and the European Association of Experimental Psychology.
Wittenbrink received his undergraduate education in Germany and completed a master's degree in 1991 and a PhD in 1994 in social psychology at the University of Michigan. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1996.
Mr. Hiro Hirano (Speaker) '89
Partner, Deputy Executive Chairman of KKR Asia Pacific and Chief Executive Officer of KKR Japan, KKR
Hirofumi Hirano (Tokyo) joined KKR in 2013 and is a Partner, Deputy Executive Chairman of KKR Asia Pacific, and CEO of KKR Japan. Prior to his current position, he served as Co-Head of Private Equity for KKR Asia Pacific from 2019 to 2023. He serves on the KKR Asia Private Equity Investment Committee and the KKR Asia Portfolio Management Committee. At KKR, he has been involved with investments including PHC Holdings (formerly Panasonic Healthcare), AlphaTheta (formerly Pioneer DJ), Marelli Holdings (formerly Calsonic Kansei), Koki Holdings (formerly Hitachi Koki), Kokusai Electric (formerly Hitachi Kokusai Electric), Seiyu Holdings, and LOGISTEED (formerly Hitachi Transport System). Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Hirano worked at AlixPartners as the Japan representative and head of financial services in Asia. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Hirano led the principal investment arm of Nikko Cordial Group (now known as SMBC Nikko Securities) and became chairman of Nikko Principal Investments. Mr. Hirano graduated from Keio University and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.